Libya: ‘Occupation does not breed democracy’

Tripoli: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton flashes the "V" sign for Victory as she stands along side Libyan fighters loyal to the National Transitional Council upon her departure from a one day visit toTripoli on October 18. (AFP Photo/Kevin Lamarque)

Libya’s interim rulers have proclaimed the country’s liberation on Sunday. But the path to democracy still has numerous obstacles. Professor Hisham Ghassib says the main issue is that Libya is occupied.

He claims that the conflict in Libya cannot be described as a real revolution.

“Historically speaking, this cannot be described as a revolution. It was some sort of coup d’état, where you had a military coup d’état backed by NATO,” the professor from Princess Sumaya University in Jordan told RT. “It is an occupation and a very brutal occupation.”

And unlike a real revolution “occupation does not breed democracy,” he stressed. “So I doubt very much that there will be real, genuine, democracy in Libya from now on.”

According to Professor Ghassib, the elections that will take place in Libya will be a formality, and “will not be a genuine expression of the will of the people.”

“It would be a mere formality hiding something else beneath it,” he says.

The professor warns that the end of the war in Libya could be followed by a resistance movement as in Iraq as NATO’s allies in Libya will find a lot of trouble convincing the people of their legitimacy.